Shares of American-New Zealand space company Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) plunged 15.5% at the open on Tuesday after the company's 41st attempt at a rocket launch ended in failure this morning.

The stock regained much of its early losses as morning turned into afternoon. As of 12:50 p.m. ET, Rocket Lab stock is down "only" 8%. But the news is still pretty sad.

After taking off from the company's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and completing its first stage burn and stage separation, the Electron rocket's second stage experienced "an issue" about 150 seconds into the flight. It was remotely terminated, destroying both the second stage and its payload of a single Capella Acadia synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite.  

Continue reading

Source Fool.com